College Football Betting 101

College football betting is often made out to be far more complex and difficult than necessary. For the gambler that wants to start off on the right track without needless confusion and time consuming research there are some simple beginner points that, if utilized, can not only keep a gambler out of trouble but also lead to potential profit against the football betting boards and begin the process of chipping away at that ten-percent house edge.

Before a gambler learns to do anything else he must first learn the importance of being selective. In college football betting a gambler should avoid having money out on too many games during the weekend as a “grocery list” rarely translates into long term profit and, more often than not, leads to frustration and bankroll depletion. A gambler must strive to be selective and to choose games that meet all of his well defined criteria that he established in the off-season, in preparation for the year ahead. The smart college football gambler will spend the off season researching past results in order to learn from them and develop reliable criteria that can quickly be implemented during the season to save valuable time for the gambler and to point towards solid college football betting angles. The choosier that a gambler is against the football betting lines the better position he will be in to turn a profit.

College football gamblers can, in fact, learn a lot from their poker playing cousins as far as the value of being choosey and selective. The old adage in poker is that the more hands you play, the less likely you are to win in the long run and the same logic holds true in college football betting. Poker players quickly learn the value of mucking bad or questionable hands rather than throwing money away on them and a football bettor must learn to do likewise. The more selective a football bettor is, the more he eats away at that house edge.

In summary, the college football gambler should heed the advice of Texas Hold’em players who say that it is often just as important to know when to not play a hand as to know when to play one. Just as the card player increases his odds of success by playing fewer and better hands a college football bettor will likewise increase his winning percentage and bankroll by only playing the best selections.

Another good place for a gambler to start is with a first glance at the underdog. Since the masses are fearful of going against the chalk, particularly at home, the gambler also puts himself in the position of going against “ignorant” money, and overlays, grabbing extra value against the house edge.

By the same token a gambler should look for quality teams on the college football betting board. The best will learn how to find the combination of quality and value and not settle for just one of the two.

Fundamentally sound teams that don’t make a lot of mistakes and that are well coached will often turn a “bad beat” wager loss into a “lucky win” and payoff for college football bettors. Part of a gambler making himself “lucky” is getting on the same side as quality whenever possible. Betting on mistake prone teams is asking for frustration and losses.